Consumer Rights Bill

Viscount Younger of Leckie: My Hon Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs (Jenny Willott MP), has today made the following statement:
	Today the Government is introducing the Consumer Rights Bill. This Bill is a fundamental reform of consumer legislation so that consumers’ and business’ key rights and responsibilities are clear, easily understood and updated to take account of purchases involving digital content. It contains important new protections for consumers alongside measures to lower regulatory burdens for business, all with the aim of making markets work better, which is good for consumers, good for business and therefore good for growth.
	Alongside the Bill, the Government is publishing a Command Paper, which includes the Government’s response to each of the recommendations made by the Business Innovation and Skills Select Committee. We are very grateful to the Committee for their detailed pre-legislative scrutiny. A copy of that Command Paper can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consumer-rights-bill.

Dartford-Thurrock Crossing

Baroness Kramer: My Honourable Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport (Robert Goodwill) has made the following Ministerial Statement:
	The Dartford – Thurrock Crossing Charging Scheme account for 2012-13 is published today under Section 3 (1) (d) of the Trunk Road Charging Schemes (Bridges and Tunnels) (Keeping of Accounts) (England) Regulations 2003. A copy of the accounts will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

EU: Justice and Home Affairs

Lord Faulks: My right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Chris Grayling) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The Ministry of Justice and the Home Office have prepared the fourth annual Report to Parliament on the Application of Protocols 19 and 21 to the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) (‘the
	Treaties’) in Relation to EU Justice and Home Affairs Matters. The Report is submitted on behalf of both my own Department and the Home Office.
	On 9 June 2008 the then Leader of the House of Lords committed to table a report in Parliament each year setting out the decisions taken by the Government in accordance with Protocol 21 (‘the Justice and Home Affairs opt-in Protocol’) and to make that report available for debate. These commitments were designed to ensure that the views of the Scrutiny Committees should inform the Government’s decision-making process.
	The Minister for Europe confirmed this commitment on behalf of the Coalition Government in 2011, and this is the fourth such Report. It covers the period 1 December 2012 to 30 November 2013. For completeness, the report also covers the application of Protocol 19 to the Treaties on the Schengen acquis integrated into the framework of the EU (‘the Schengen opt-out Protocol’).
	Over the period covered in the Report, the Government took 21 decisions on UK participation in EU Justice and Home Affairs legislative proposals. Of these, the UK opted in to 13 proposals. The Government has not taken any decisions under the Schengen Opt-out Protocol during the period covered by this report. At the point of publication, eleven EU legislative proposals are subject to Ministerial and Parliamentary consideration with regard to an opt-in decision. The Report also provides an indicative list of legislative proposals which are expected to be brought forward over the next 12 months that are likely to require a decision on UK participation under the Justice and Home Affairs Opt-in or Schengen Opt-out Protocols.

Immigration

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: My rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Theresa May) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement:
	I would like to inform the House that changes have been made to the arrangements for publishing reports of the Independent Chief Inspector for Borders and Immigration. The reports prepared by the Chief Inspector will from today be laid before Parliament in order to bring the process into line with the current legislation.
	There is a requirement under Section 50 of the UK Borders Act 2007 for the Home Secretary to lay copies of the reports of the Independent Chief Inspector before Parliament. This requirement has only recently been brought to my notice and therefore, in order to comply with the legislation, I will now be laying the reports I receive from the Chief Inspector before Parliament.
	This change in process will ensure that the requirements of the legislation are fulfilled but there is no change to the independence of the Chief Inspector and the work done by his Office. The only amendment I may make to the reports that I receive are through the provision for redacting material on the grounds of national security or an individual’s safety in section 50 (3) of the 2007 Act.
	All reports will continue to be available on the Chief Inspector’s website once they have been laid before Parliament.
	Today two reports are being laid before Parliament; the first one is a report on the short notice inspection of a sham marriage enforcement operation and the second is report on an inspection of Border Force operations at Stansted Airport. Neither of these reports contains redactions.
	Copies of both of these reports are available in the Vote Office.

Machinery of Government Change: CANparent Trial

Lord Hill of Oareford: My Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister has made the following statement to the House of Commons:
	This written ministerial statement confirms responsibility for the CANparent trial and associated market development contract will transfer from the Department for Education to the Department of Health on 1st April 2014 for one year. Responsibility for parenting policy will remain with the Department for Education.

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013

Baroness Northover: My Hon friend, The Minister for Sport, Tourism and Equalities (Helen Grant MP): has made the following statement:
	The Government has today published a consultation paper on the future of civil partnership in England and Wales. This is the full public consultation required under section 15 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013. The Government will consider responses to the consultation alongside evidence about marriage of same sex couples, civil partnership and possible options for the future.
	The consultation document is available on the Culture, Media and Sport website at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-future-of-civil-partnership-in-england-and-wales

Pensions

Lord Freud: My honourable friend the Minister for Pensions (Steve Webb MP) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	This government is committed to tackling high charges in workplace pension schemes. In particular, for those workers who do not exercise any choice, where they are automatically enrolled into a scheme then remain in the default fund.
	Our consultation on pension scheme charging closed at the end of November. We continue to examine the responses, and will bring forward further
	proposals, in due course. However, one strong theme to emerge is about the timing for the implementation of any changes.
	We remain strongly minded to cap pension scheme charges in the default funds used for automatic enrolment. However, we have consistently encouraged firms to start getting ready for automatic enrolment twelve months ahead of the time the new employer duties apply to them. Therefore, to give those employers at least twelve months notice of the rules that will apply to them; I can confirm that any cap on charges will not be introduced before April 2015.

Scotland Analysis: Borders and Citizenship

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: My rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Theresa May) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement:
	I am today laying before the House the tenth paper in the Government’s Scotland analysis programme, ‘Scotland analysis: Borders and citizenship’. This series of publications is designed to inform the debate on Scotland’s future within the United Kingdom ahead of this year’s referendum.
	This paper analyses the UK’s framework for managing its common external border, considers the benefits of an absence of internal borders within the UK, as well as the implications for both if people in Scotland vote for independence. It also considers the impact that Scottish independence may have on issues of citizenship.
	The paper sets out the importance of borders and the considerations that states around the world must take into account when determining how to manage their borders. It then analyses the UK’s internal and external borders, and examines the current framework for managing the UK’s external border.
	The paper then considers the UK’s policies and systems for managing the movement of people into the UK, both for short term visits and economic migration. It sets out some of the issues that the government of an independent Scottish state may have to consider when determining how to manage the movement of people into and out of an independent Scotland.
	It also assesses how the movement of goods, both legal and illegal, between Scotland and the UK could be impacted if Scotland became an independent state, and the challenges this could pose for the governments of both the continuing UK and an independent Scottish state.
	Finally, the paper also considers the question of citizenship and how an independent Scottish state may define its own citizenship policy. It then analyses the impact on the citizenship of the continuing UK if Scotland became an independent state.
	Future papers from the Scotland analysis programme will be published over the course of 2014 to ensure that people in Scotland have access to the facts and information ahead of the referendum.
	Copies of the paper are available in the Vote Office.